Fourdrinier machine.



Wv A. MURRAY 81 C. E. PUTNAIVI.

FOURDHINIhR MACHlNE.

APPLICATION mu) MAY I4. 1918.

lutcntml Out. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS' SHEET 1.

I311 uenfow F03 W/iMur' CEPu/ W. A. MURRAY 8; C E. PUTNAIVI.

FOURDRINIER MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED'MAY 14. mm.

1,280,524. Patented Oct. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS '-SHEET 2.

FOURDRINIER MACHINE.

Application filed May 14,1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, YVILLIAM A. MUR- nAY and CHARLES E. PUTNAM, citizens of the United States, residing at. Chisholm, in the county of Franklin and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fourdrinier Machines, of which the following is a specification, refer ence being had to the accompanying drawings.

'This invention relates to Fourdrinier machines, and has for its primary object to provide improved means of a very simple character, whereby undue wear upon the wire cloth which carries the paper pulp as it moves over the suction boxes will be obviated, and the life of the cloth materially prolonged.

'It is a more particular object of the invention to providean improved mounting of the suction boxes and means for imparting a reciprocatory movement to the boxes as a unit in the direction of movement of the wire.

Itis likewise one of the detail objects of the invention to provide a reciprocatory bar mounted upon each side of the Fourdrinier frame and anti-friction means interposed between the frame and said bar, each of the suction boxes being provided with an upwardly and inwardly extending arm fixed to said bar and an actuating piston-operatively connected to the forward end of each of said bars.

It is also a further general'object of our invention to provide improvements in Fourdrinier machines of the character above specified which are simple and inexpensive in construction, reliable and efficient in practical operation, and which will result in material economy in the maintenance cost of such machines.

- With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved combination, construction and relative arrangement of the several parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, subsequently claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which similar reterence characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and where- Figure 1 is a plan view of a part of a Fourdrinier machine to which one Bll'lbOt'llment of our invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1, 1918.

Serial No. 234,544.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 1 is a section taken on the line H of Fig. 1;; and

F ig. is a section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

In the operation of Fourdrinier paper making machines, the longitudinal movement of the wire cloth which carries the paper pulp over and upon the suction boxes results in the wearing of grooves in the top walls of the boxes, and also in excessive wear upon the wire cloth so that the latter has a relatively short life and has to be frequently renewed. The average wire employed in such machines remains in service for only about ten days. As is well known in the :art, this wire is rapidly vibrated (hiring its longitudinal movement over the suction boxes, and it. has heretofore been proposed to reciprocate the suction boxes transversely with respect to the line of movement of the wire cloth so that the wire will not have continous frictional contact at one place upon the suction boxes, whereby the wearing of grooves in the box walls as above referred to will he obviated. \Vhile such a device is more or less effective for this particular purpose, it does not prevent wear upon the wire nor appreciably increase the lift thereof. It is, therefore, the primary object of our pres ent invention to provide a mechanism which will not only preventthe wearing of grooves in the suction box walls. but which will also minimize wear upon the wire by reason of its contact with the suction boxes and materially prolong the period of serviceability of the latter.

To the above end,'we provide'at the ends oi each suction box the castings or extensions (5 having the inwardly projecting longittuzl'iiuiilly extending arms 7 spaced above the top wall of the suction box. 8 designates the side bars or rails of the Four" drinier frame. Upon these side rails the' bars 9 are mounted for longitudinal reciprocatory movement. The arms 7 extend transversely upon the bars 9 and are detachably secured thereto by means of screws 9, as clearly seen in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The bar 9 is pro sided in its bottom face and immediate above each suction box with a long'itally extending groove to receive an anti-friction bearing roller 10, which has free rolling contact upon the upper surface of the frame rail 8. The rail 8 is further provided with spaced longitudinally elongated openings 11 therein to receive the pins 12 fixed in the bar 9 and this bar is provided at each of its ends with an elongated opening 1.3 to receive a guide pin 1% which is fixed in the rail 8.

C designates the wire cloth which moves longitudiimlly between the side rails 8 of the machine frame and over the perforated top walls of the suction boxes 5. As here inbeforc noted this wire cloth is -aused to vibrate vertically, so that it has intermittent sliding contact upon the top walls of the suction boxes. The theoretical fulcrum for the vibrating wire cloth is the feed roller arranged at the forward or entering end of the machine.

The forward end of each bar 9 is formed with an angular arm 15 extending downwardly at the outer side of the rail 8-. In the lower endof this arm a reciprocating piston rod 16 is engaged to impart a longitudinal reciprocating movement to said bar, and consequently to the series of suction boxes which are mounted thereon. The actuating pistons for the bars 9 may be oper ated by air, steam or water, or, in lieu of such pistons any desired means for imparting such a reciprocatory movement to the suction boxes may be employed. Therefore, as the specific or detail construction of the actuating means constitutes .no part of the present invention itwill not be herein further described in detail.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and manner of operation, together with the several advantages of our invention will be clearly and fully un derstood. As the pulp carrying wire moves over the suction boxes. and in such movement is vertically vibrated. the suction boxes are simultaneously moved as a unit and rapidly reciprocated in the direction of movement of the wire. By thus reciprocating the suction boxes in a longitudinal direction, there is an appreciable decrease in the time during which the wire has sliding frictional contact upon the box walls, and wear upon the wire will thus be greatly reduced' It has been found in practice that by means of our invention, instead of having to renew the wire every ten days, the wire. cloth will remain serviceable for a period of seventeen days. It Will, therefore, be appreciated that considerable economy will he realized in the cost of operation and maintenance of the machine. This is particularly true under present industrial conditions as the cost of the wire is very high. The use of our improvement necessitates no alterations of a material character in the suction boxes or the other parts of the Fourdrinier machine and may be operatively applied to the machine at comparatively small cost. .WVe have herein referred to a particular mounting of the suction boxes whereby they may be reciprocated. but it is to be understood that other means than that herein referred to may be adopted for the mounting of these boxes.

Another advantage incident to the present invention, resides in the fact that it is only necessary to plane the covers or tops of the suction boxes when a. new wire is put on. In the use of such machines at. the present time, the wear of the wire upon the suction box covers is so great that these covers must be planed every day. The suction boxes may be independently detached from the bars 9 by removing the screws 9, so that two boxes may remain in operation while the other is being planed or repaired.

It will, of course, be apparent that, if desired, the operating means for the suction boxes may be applied to only one side of the machine instead of to both sides thereof, as illustrated in the drawings. \Vhile. therefore, we have herein shown and described the preferred construction and relative arrangement of the various parts of the device, the same is nevertheless susceptible of many minor modifications and we, therefore. reserve the privilege of adopting all such legitimate changes as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

We claim 1; In a I ourdrinier machine, a plurality of suction boxes, and means having. a fixed connection with the suction boxes for imparting a unitary reciprocating movement to all of said boxes at the same time in the direction of movement of the paper making wire.

2. In a Fourdrinier machine, a plurality of suction boxes. bars mounted upon the frame of the machine to reciprocate in the direction of movement of the paper making wire, means for suspending the suction boxes at their ends from the respective bars, and means for reciprocating said bars.

3. In a Fourdrinier machine, a plurality of suction boxes, means for suspending the suctionboxes from the side bars of the machine frame. and means fixed to said suspending means for reciprocating all of said boxes at the same time in the direction of movement of the paper n'iaking wire.

-l. In a Fourdrinier machine, a plurality of suction boxes extending at their ends beneath the side rails of the machine frame, bars mounted upon said rails for reciprocatory movement in the line of movement of the paper making wire, means for suspending the suction boxes at their ends from said bars, and means for reciprocating said bars.

5. In a Fourdrinier machine, a plurality of spaced suction boxes extending transversely of the machine and beneath the side rails of the machine frame, bars mounted upon said rails to reciprocate in the line of our signatures in the presence of two witmovement of the paper making wire, castness es. ings on the opposite ends of each box having inwardly projecting arms fixed to the respective reciprocating bars, and means connected to said bars at one of their ends Witnesses: for reciprocating the same. C. W. HYDE,

In testimony whereof we hereunto affix ALVIN F. RECORD.

WILLIAM A. MURRAY. CHARLES E. PUTNAM. 

